Overlooking Audience Expectations

This past week the all-time leader in Hits, Games Played, At-Bats, and Singles was reinstated by Major League Baseball making him eligible for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Pete Rose is that player. Nicknamed as Charlie Hustle, he and other permanently ineligible MLB players have been removed from that list. They were banned for life. They’re now eligible as they’re deceased. The ire of fans has been raised. Some because they believe the legendary player should have never been banned from Hall of Fame eligibility. Some because they feel he should not be considered for the honor even posthumously.

Earlier this year I wrote about a personal experience regarding how Rose’s actions failed the expectations of his Cincinnati Reds fanbase. https://radioink.com/2025/03/04/mike-mcvay-great-expectations/  I shared the experience I had of being in Cincinnati when the news first came down of Pete’s infraction. Betting on the Reds while he was the manager of the team. A clear violation. The community was shocked, appalled, and many were disappointed in the actions of their hero.

My innocent question of the cabby about the situation brought a response that I wasn’t prepared to hear. “Pete Rose donates a lot of money to youth sports in this town” the man said. “I can’t afford the gloves, bats, balls, and the teams can’t afford the batting helmets and all that goes with the game. Mr. Rose paid for all of that for the kids and for this city. He has done a lot of good things for people like me.” My follow-up question; “So you think Pete Rose shouldn’t be banned from baseball?” His response … “He absolutely should be banned and hopefully never goes into the Hall of Fame. He did wrong.”

The failed expectation of Rose’s fanbase was real and raw at that moment. Time has softened the feeling of many, but Rose violating the rules was not something one could ever imagine. Especially given his love of the game. That same level of love and affection is held for the highest performing long term talent on-air in many markets. They are the celebrities of their community. Given the competition from music services, radio’s unique selling proposition is its’ on-air personalities. Talent are the difference. Stations with the best talent often have the best opportunity to attract the biggest audience.

We’re witnessing a dramatic and dynamic change in all of media that’s significantly more than an “adjustment.” Media consumption has shifted to include many more platforms. Trial of new launches is easy as it’s a minimal cost of entry. Download an app, pay a low monthly fee or take the free version that includes commercials, and you’re activated. The expectations for these new platforms is minimal as the stage of their products lifecycle is currently Discovery and Exploration. While legacy media, which includes Radio, is in its’ Mature lifecycle. Expectations for new platforms is yet to be formed. Expectations in legacy media is eroding from a once high level.

Among the critical changes being made are things that are most concerning to me. Quality of content. Satisfying an existing audience to keep them as regular listeners. Holding onto talent who have built a strong fan base and listener loyalty. Serving a community. Giving a listener a reason to come back over and over again. These things are important to building an attractive content platform. They appear to be devalued and declining as broadcasters attempt to stay financially buoyant. The expectations formed by the audience come up nowhere in closed door conversations. Discussion of audience expectations in private meetings appear to be non-existent.

Somehow in this reconstructionist era of media, the audience and their expectations of stations and on-air talent appear to be of no consideration. That has to change before we can begin to think of rebuilding listener loyalty. We need listener loyalty to build success. Failing the audiences expectations of your station is plain and simple … Failure.